The band also had a number of secret weapons in the studio, among them Eddie's brother David, who helped provide the birdcalls for "Groovin'." In addition, there was Arif Mardin, the band's imaginative producer, and peerless studio bassist Chuck Rainey, who Gene recalls was brought to The Rascals by one of the band's many engineers, Chris Huston. Rainey believes it was a recommendation from the late sax great King Curtis that won him the gig. "Back in those days, Curtis was the A&R person at Atlantic," Rainey recalled, "and I left in his band in late '66 to start doing studio work. I thought Curtis was the greatest, and he thought a lot of me because I could read music. I met Arif through him, and Arif put me together with Felix, Dino, Eddie and Gene."
In retrospect says Rainey, "The Rascals were the best of the lot, a real white soul band. They were not some rock group that messed with R&B like the Stones or Mitch Ryder. Anybody who hadn't seen The Rascals would've thought they were a black band because of that church organ sound and the fact that they had a soul singer up front. Felix had a knack for playing grooves that made him come off more 'black' - for lack of a better word - than 'white' in his approach. He was obviously listening to Dr. John, Richard Tee and Billy Preston, and it showed in his playing. Gene reminded me of Steve Cropper with a strong connection to that Memphis sound. Eddie was the one with the personality and ideas. Dino was simply one of the hottest players ever. He and I did a couple of sessions as studio players outside the band, and we did some outside gigs together, too. One year, we were at Club 55 all summer, playing jazz three days a week."
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